


Tangled the Series Hurt!Eugene

by loverofmanyfandoms19 (Suzq1818)



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Eugene Fitzherbert, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzq1818/pseuds/loverofmanyfandoms19
Summary: Following Tangled the Series Chronologically. Because there are a lot of great hurt!Eugene moments in the tangled series but not enough fanfiction about it. I noticed that often Eugene gets injured in some way and it magically heals so we need some fanfic for if it weren’t that easy. They might all be oneshots or they might be multi chapter, I haven’t decided yet. I kept a lot of dialogue from the ep, but changed a few things just to help with where I am trying to go with the story. Thanks for reading!
Relationships: Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Lance Strongbow, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 12
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because there are a lot of great hurt!Eugene moments in the tangled series but not enough fanfiction about it. I noticed that often Eugene gets injured in some way and it magically heals so we need some fanfic for if it weren’t that easy. They might all be oneshots or they might be multi chapter, I haven’t decided yet. I kept a lot of dialogue from the ep, but changed a few things just to help with where I am trying to go with the story. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1 -Season 1 Episode 1: If the hair hadn’t protected them 

That day had started like any other. Awakening to the safety of the palace walls and his beautiful girlfriend made Eugene happy each and every day. Little did he know that he wouldn’t be seeing anything but the walls of the infirmary for a while after the events of this afternoon.   
After tailing Cass and Rapunzel to the mysterious house in old Corona, Eugene had a bad feeling in his stomach. Peering into the window, he saw a circular saw coming down towards Rapunzel’s head.  
“Blondie!” Eugene gasped and ran towards the door. His true love was in trouble. A mysterious, high pitched voice exclaimed from inside, “-it’s absolutely unbreakable!” Eugene felt his heart rate elevate as he pulled on the locked knob. Jiggling the doorknob endlessly, he realized that there was only one-way in. Eugene prepared to knock down the door. Biting his lip and bracing his shoulder, he ran towards the door and his right shoulder exploded with pain. He was able to save face though.  
“But I’m betting you’re not! Let her go!” Eugene confidently stated, wagging his finger at the unknown boy (who is this child?). Cass stared at him with the usual disgust and the small boy stood confused beside her. Suddenly, Rapunzel appeared, strapped into some machine, trying to appear nonchalant.   
“Eugene! Hey…” she nervously looked aside as if there wasn’t a machine tuging on the long locks of gold attached to her head. Eugene sighed in relief, his posture slouching.   
“Blondie! You’re okay,” he stiffened up once more “you wanna tell me what’s goin’ on here?”  
Cass and Rapunzel seemed to share that look and Eugene sighed. Ever since Raps’ hair had grown back, she’d been hiding something from Eugene with Cass, and Eugene had annoyingly become quite acquainted with the look they were sharing. It read ‘I don’t trust Eugene’. He understood, he wouldn’t trust himself either with his past, but it still hurt. Realizing that he was, once again, going to be left on the outs, he decided to move on from the subject.  
“You know what? I don’t care. I’m gettin’ you outta there.” Rushing towards Rapunzel, he jumped on the stage and attempted ripping her out of the straps she was tied into. His shoulder twinged and he winced, but put it off till later. Running shoulder first into that door would probably leave a bruise, but it was worth it to get his girlfriend out of this weird place.   
“Hey! You’re Flynn Rider!” the squeaky voice said. Immediately, his guard went up. Eugene crossed his arms and looked away.   
“No. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His anger rose, “I’ve never seen you before in my life, you can’t prove anything!” He snapped. Eugene glared at the boy who seemed to get more excited. His eyes lit up and he began to nervously laugh.   
“I’m your biggest fan!!” running towards a curtain, the boy pulled a cord to reveal his wanted posters. “See?” Eugene sighed, seeing blondie smiling at him out of the corner of his eye, he decided to go with it. This strange kid didn’t seem that bad, right?  
“Hey now… Flynn Rider, nice to be met.” His signature smirk met his lips. He heard Cass’s sigh and could practically feel her eye roll.   
“I used to see your wanted poster all the time you’re my hero!” Alright, this kid wasn’t too bad, in fact Eugene was liking this kid more and more as he continued fussing over him.   
“Oh well ‘hero’ is a bit much…” “I’ve read every single book about you!” Eugene cringed. Oh. That’s why. “Oh… well, uhhhm you see, that’s not actually me. I just took the name from the book” he looked away. No wonder this kid idolized him, he thought he was the actual Flynnagan Rider. The same one who he’d taken the name from back when the only thing he had was his name.   
As the kid began droning on and on about all the adventures he had supposedly been on, Eugene felt a twang of self-pity. He should’ve known better. No one would ever think of him as some sort of hero unless they didn’t know who he actually was. Just a nobody orphan thief who happened to save the lost princess of Corona. If it weren’t for Raps, he’d still be the thief he was before, the unwanted boy but the very wanted man.   
Eugene came back to himself. “Would someone please explain to me who this child is?” He asked, confused as ever as the boy waved a green sword around.   
“I’m Varian!” he knocked a bottle over, and an explosion occurred, breaking the kid’s table in half. He accidently threw the sword at his poster, which disintegrated immediately. Eugene flinched but suddenly was interrupted by a rumbling which shook the whole house. A rock fell from the ceiling and soon the rumbling stopped, but Eugene figured no rumbling, no matter how small, was a good sign.   
“uh what was that trembling?”   
“Trembling? I didn’t notice any trembling.” The kid shrugged it off quickly and Eugene couldn’t help but feel curious. “Oh! Yeah! Almost forgot to get the spectrometric press! It’s the only way I can read the results of the test.” Eugene raised an eyebrow at the kid. He only got about half that sentence but he was still pretty sure the kid had brushed off the earthquake too quickly. “Flynn Rider, wanna come with?”   
“Ooooh, no.” He stated quickly. This kid was getting weirder and weirder by the minute.   
“Hey! If-if you come, I can show you something really special, but, umm, you’ve gotta keep it a secret.” That peaked Eugene’s interest. After this whole thing with Cass and Raps, some random kid wanted to give him a secret to keep? Hah! This would show them. He smirked and his eyes lit up in excitement.   
Forgetting all about the mini earthquake, Eugene said “you want to tell me a secret? Did you hear that everyone?!” he over exaggerated to make sure Cass and Raps knew what he was getting at. “Var—Varit—Varitas?” “Varian!” “A complete stranger wants to tell me a secret!” Cass looked at him annoyed while Rapunzel looked impassive, sitting upon the metal bed. Eugene smirked and walked confidently off, following the kid out the door of the house.   
After he closed the door, he dropped the façade and grabbed the kid’s shoulder. “Listen buddy, I need you to tell me everything that the princess told you.”  
The kid turned and began to reenact their entire interaction with great excitement, and Eugene began to slump and rolled his eyes. Couldn’t anyone just answer his damn question? He only cared because he cared about Rapunzel’s wellbeing! After face palming for a moment he encouraged the child to only focus on the important stuff, but the kid wouldn’t listen. Annoyed, he face palmed once more and continued following the kid to the smaller shed like house behind the bigger house.   
As they entered the smaller shack, Eugene peered around. Lots of weird looking contraptions surrounded them. Eugene chose to lean against a table and watch with suspicion as the boy talked to himself while looking under blankets for one of his machines. After a few minutes, he seemed to find what he was looking for. It was on wheels, with three rollers wrapped in parchment, it was almost as big as the kid. His brows furrowed together in confusion; this didn’t look like it would work. But Eugene had bigger fish to fry.  
“That’s muy interesante, but, getting back to what the princess said—” Eugene was cut off by more rumbling, it seemed to be bigger this time and he had to brace himself on the table behind him. He unconsciously reached behind with his right arm and he was reminded of the soreness of his shoulder once more. Rubbing his arm, he exclaimed, annoyed “why does that keep happening?!”  
The kid pushed him aside to reveal some sort of trap door on the floor. He exclaimed with grandeur as he pulled on the knob “Flynn Rider! I believe I promised you a secret.” The kid looked at him with mischief in his eyes and Eugene couldn’t help but smirk.   
Descending into the basement, Eugene couldn’t help but feel excited, if not nervous, for whatever secret this kid was hiding. The area he found himself in was dark and moist, it must be some sort of tunnel. He couldn’t help but feel slightly claustrophobic being in a tunnel again. The last time he’d been in a tunnel, him and Rapunzel had gotten trapped in a cave with rapidly rising water and they’d almost died. He attempted to suppress a shiver and wrung his hands, trying not to think about that horrifying moment. He’d almost gotten Raps killed, and she had barely seen the outside world at that point. If she hadn’t been so clever, and had magic hair, he WOULD have gotten them killed. There was that self-pity again. It seemed to creep up on him more and more recently. Coming back to himself, he realized the kid had been talking, and was leading them towards a giant contraption.   
“-these tunnels run through my entire village, which make them perfect for my project.” Eugene shivered once more. “Uh, what project?”  
“This project!” the boy gestured towards the giant machine. Eugene’s eyebrow cocked and he replied quickly, with nonchalance in his voice, “I don’t get it.”  
The kid began to drone on again, speaking of something about chemistry and magic? No alchemy. Apparently, this would give his village hot water? Eugene didn’t really see how a giant, pressurized, unpredictable machine would do any good for his town, but the kid was wrapped up in his big explanation. As soon as he referenced the fact that there were five (are you kidding me? FIVE) of these machines in the tunnels below the village, Eugene knew they were in trouble.   
“WAIT Wait wait. These—these tremors, your machines are causing them?”  
“No no no, my machines are not causing them, the chemical reactions they trigger do.”  
Eugene’s eyes widened, yeah, they’re dead.   
“and no one else knows you’re doing this? Okay, listen kiddo, I’m no expert in… whatever this is… but anything that can cause earthquakes cannot be safe.” Eugene became more and more worried as he began thinking more and more about what this meant. “We’ve gotta warn people about this!” he pleaded. But the kid wouldn’t have it.  
“No! We can’t! Okay? You gave me your word you’d keep this a secret, and besides, I am an expert, and this is all perfectly safe!” The kid put his hands on his hips, a sense of confidence on his face, but just then the rumbling happened again. A nail shot out of the machine, nearly missing Eugene’s head, and notched itself into the wall.   
Eugene glared at the kid, but he seemed to shake it off.   
Arriving back into the room with Cass and Raps, Eugene’s nerves were shot. They needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. There was no way that those machines were stable, no matter what the kid claimed. His thoughts were interrupted by a certain annoying lady in waiting.  
“Sooooo Eugene.” She walked towards Eugene with a smirk on her face and he crossed his arms, she wasn’t gunna get this out of him, no matter how much he wanted to tell them. “got yourself a secret, huh?”  
“If you wanna call it that, the kid ha---” Eugene stopped himself “uh huh, nice try Cass—” just then he was interrupted by the biggest rumble yet. His eyes shot open wide and he felt his heart in his throat. Nervously, he changed the subject.  
“Look, Raps, I think it’s time to go. NOW” He looked nervously at the unstable ceiling above him, more and more rocks seemed to be falling as the tremors increased.   
“Now? You’re kidding right? This is almost finished.” She looked at the machine’s count down, which read eight tests to go. Smiling, Rapunzel looked at Eugene with confidence in her eyes and he cringed. Walking towards the kid he attempted to act inconspicuous.   
“Can we talk?” he asked, trying to keep his calm. As the kid began to reply Eugene grabbed him, dragging the boy outside. His patience was wearing thin, he wasn’t going to let Rapunzel get hurt, not on his watch and not by this kid!  
“Those things down there are dangerous!”  
“Dangerous? No, they’re not dangerous.” He shrugged it off once more. “I-I have adjusted my calculations for every possible outcome…” The kid kept going but Eugene stopped listening to the never-ending excuses. He face palmed for the third time that day and began to pace. Somehow, he needed this kid to realize how dangerous those machines were! How could he be so blind? Interrupting him, Eugene kneeled in front of the kid, “look, I think you’re a good kid, a-a smart kid, and you have great intentions, but I’m asking you—pleading with you! – for the love of my life and your entire village, to please shut off those machines until a seisma-quake-atoligist can come inspect them!” He sighed, grabbing the kid’s shoulders once more. “Please! Do it for Team Awesome.”   
Just then, the biggest earthquake shook the ground. The houses seemed to shake, and the severity of the situation seemed to hit the young boy. Finally. The kid mentioned turning them down and ran off towards the shed. Eugene sighed, worried, and stood back up, racing inside to hopefully free Rapunzel from that machine and get her and Cassandra out of there.   
“All right! Six more tests, then we can leave right?” he chuckled nervously, “go someplace far away? Really, really far away.” He rubbed his right arm fearfully with a fake smile painted on his face. The love of his life was still on that metal bed, golden hair all over the place and she smiled lightly at him.   
Cassandra interrupted abruptly, “why do you want us to leave so bad?” she smirked. They both knew she had him concerned, he was going to have to tell them. But he tried to deflect, using his defense mechanism, humor.   
“Ooooh no you can stay. In fact, it’d be great if you stayed” he stated with a smirk “that way, when these things blow…. Oh boy, uh, never mind” He glanced back to Rapunzel and the smile had disappeared from her face. Worry replaced it, the same worry he’d seen so many times before that always pulled on his heart. He hated seeing that look in her eyes. Cass exclaimed with confusion “Woah wait, what did you just say?”  
Rapunzel looked at him with concern and he rubbed his sore shoulder unconsciously. “Eugene what is wrong with you?” He paced back and forth, not liking where this was going. Now Rapunzel would never trust him. She’d know he couldn’t keep a secret and never tell him anything! But Eugene shook his head, that wasn’t what was important. The important thing was getting his girlfriend out of here safely.   
“Okay okay, you wanna know why we have to go?—” Just then, smoke erupted from the ground. That was a bad sign. Okay, time to throw in the towel Eugene, you can get used to Rapunzel not telling you things, right?   
“look, I tried to show you I could keep a secret, but I can’t! This kid—” the rumbling threw him off as the entire building shook with vigor. He frowned, afraid for his girlfriend. “Varian’s got five of these huge, highly-pressurized underground machines and they are clearly unstable! I think they could blow up at any minute!” Cass looked surprised and Rapunzel looked fearful. The situation sank in and suddenly the ground outside the window seemed to explode.   
“--and that minute is now.”   
“get me out of this machine!” Rapunzel fearfully yelled. Eugene and Cass raced towards her, trying anything to rip her out of the machine. It began to go crazy and there seemed to be no way out. A glint of green caught Eugene’s eye and he rushed to the sword that the kid had been flailing around earlier. Swinging it into the machine seemed to work as everything stopped going crazy, but Rapunzel was still trapped. Eugene grabbed the mechanicals which kept his girlfriend stuck to the metal bed and began pulling. Cass joined him, attempting to pull her out, but it seemed like there was no way to release her.   
“Eugene!” Rapunzel screamed and Eugene tried to comfort her by wrapping his arms around her protectively. The room seemed to be coming down around them, but outside the window Varian was sprinting towards the epicenter.   
“Varian! He’s gonna get himself killed!”  
“Get her out of here, I’ll get the kid” Cass exclaimed, racing towards the door.   
Eugene went back to trying to rip Rapunzel out of the machine. The machine dinged as the last test was finished and Rapunzel yelled that it was over. The contraption from earlier seemed to be printing results, but a piece of wood from the ceiling fell and smashed it to bits. Eugene kept pulling with all his might, his shoulder protesting against the pressure he was putting on it and he gritted his teeth.   
“There’s no time! Get out of here!” Rapunzel yelled. Eugene stood in front of her, “I am not going anywhere without you. I love you Rapunzel.” She smiled gently, “I love you too, more than you will ever know.”  
Just then, a piece fell from the ceiling, hitting the back of the machine, releasing the hold it had on Rapunzel. She fell into Eugene’s arms, surprised, and he smiled at her.   
“Quick! Let’s go!” Eugene began to push her forward, gathering up her hair as she ran towards the door. She hesitated as he was still so far behind her, but he yelled urgently “Go!” nodding, Rapunzel ripped open the door and ran outside, turning around pulling her hair out of the house, for her boyfriend to appear at the end.   
Eugene watched as Rapunzel disappeared and sighed in relief. Just then a piece of rock fell from the ceiling onto his head, causing him to drop on his hands and knees, dropping the golden hair. His hearing seemed to go out, it sounded like his ears were full of cotton, but he attempted to get back up on his feet. Another rock fell, hitting his already injured shoulder, and he yelped. It caused him to fall onto his face in pain. Gripping his now likely dislocated shoulder, Eugene rolled over onto his back and he saw the shaking ceiling. Adrenaline filled his body and the pain was forgotten.  
Eugene pushed himself off the ground as fast as he could and shook the dizziness from his vision. He spotted the golden hair being pulled out the door. He stumbled towards it, attempting to avoid more falling pieces of ceiling. A rumble so big suddenly occurred, fully knocking Eugene off his feet, about five feet in front of the door. Pain laced his body as something seemed to fall onto his back, pinning him to the ground.   
So this was it. Dying in a random kid’s house for which he still had no clue why his girlfriend had sought out. He tried to pull himself out from under the slab of wood, but it was too heavy, and with his injured arm, he was especially stuck. He tried wiggling out, but it caused the wood to slip and fall even more onto his back. He could feel his ribs snapping and it was getting harder to breath. His sight seemed to be swimming in and out of focus. The golden hair finally disappeared completely and he thought he heard someone yelling his name, but he couldn’t be sure.   
As Eugene’s eyes slipped closed, he felt a sudden lightness, as if the wooden slab had been lifted off his back. Maybe he wasn’t going completely crazy as he felt someone (some-horse? Eugene didn’t know anymore) grab him and begin dragging him by his injured arm (just my luck). His shoulder made one last protest to being pulled and Eugene swore he heard someone yell. But he was too lost to pay any attention. His consciousness was slipping and even though he thought he was hearing someone yell for him again, he had no choice but to succumb to the darkness.

When Eugene opened his eyes, he was staring up into the blue sky. He quickly closed his eyes as the brightness seemed too much for him. Slowly, his senses seemed to come back to him. He could feel his head pounding, concussion probably. Didn’t something hit his head? The fact that he couldn’t remember was probably answer enough. His shoulder was throbbing and so were the ribs in his back. Other than that, it seemed like he was okay. He was alive.  
Eugene began to push himself off the ground using one arm and made slow progress. That was until a hand pushed him back to the ground. Squinting his eyes open, a familiar face appeared in his vision.   
“Stay down Fitzherbert. You’re hurt.” Cass looked at him with a hint of pity and kept her hand on his chest. Eugene opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted with coughs. It seemed like his lungs were giving up on him. His ribs were giving him so much pain that he couldn’t catch his breath. When he finally started to breath again, he realized he’d been rolled onto his left side and someone’s hand was placed on his forehead while someone else’s was on his back. Drearily, he opened his eyes once more and he recognized the golden locks before him.   
“Eugene. Don’t try to talk, just breathe okay? Its gunna be okay, we just have to get you back home.” Smiling slightly, Eugene’s eyes wandered behind Rapunzel, spotting Max. The horse was looking at him with concern. He closed his eyes once more and let himself drift. Something cold and wet was gently stroking his forehead. Cleaning off the cut on his head maybe? He supposed it probably bled quite a bit. Eugene unconsciously leaned into the cool and sighed.  
There were people talking around him, but he wasn’t paying much attention to their words until Rapunzel said his name. He lethargically opened his eyes, meeting her beautiful emerald ones and a small smile found its way on his face once more. Rapunzel looked at him with a smile, and possibly some concern.   
“Sorry Eugene, we need to figure out your injuries again before we move you.” Eugene cleared his throat and attempted to sit up again. This time, Rapunzel and (Cass?) helped him. Someone sat down behind him, acting as a furry pillow for him to lean on (Max?). Eugene took as deep of a breath as he could, feeling his ribs in his back protest.   
“Head, shoulder, back” was all Eugene could muster. He cringed as Rapunzel touched his right shoulder. “Eugene we’re gunna take your shirt off okay?” She didn’t wait for an answer as Cass took out a sword and cut it off.   
“Loved that shirt” Eugene muttered quietly, smirking slightly and stealing a glance at Cass. She smiled lightly, with concern filled eyes. “You’ll just have to live without it, Fitzherbert.” After they removed his shirt and vest, he heard a slight gasp. Reopening his eyes (he didn’t remember closing them) he saw the look of pity on both the girls face. A sad neigh came from behind him and he chuckled slightly. He glanced down at his shoulder, spotting dark bruises all over the arm. It looked wrong though, somehow, like it might be out of place.  
A gentle hand appeared on his face and he suppressed a flinch. He noticed Rapunzel sitting before him and he leaned into her touch, her cool hand felt nice. “we’re gunna have to put that arm in a sling, and then turn you over to look at that back, okay? I don’t think there’s much we can do about your head.” Eugene nodded into her hand, eyes slipping shut once more.   
He heard the ripping of his shirt and cringed slightly but knew that Cass was just trying to help. He felt his arm being moved and he winced, grinding his teeth to keep any tears from falling. Who knew a shoulder would hurt so bad.   
“I think it might be dislocated.” Cass stated. “But I can reset it.”   
Eugene shuttered. This wasn’t his first time with this. Now that she mentioned it, it did feel like a dislocated shoulder. And though he dreaded what was about to happen, he knew that it was the only fix for this.   
“Hold him down, put that in his mouth, don’t let him move! Sorry Eugene” Cass said. Eugene just grunted, a belt filling his mouth. He bit down as hard as he could, bracing himself. Hands held down his left arm and he felt Rapunzel sit down on his legs. Well this wasn’t going to be pleasant.   
“On three. One –” Cass wrenched his arm, relocating it into its socket. Eugene’s scream was muffled through the belt and he felt a tear roll down his cheek. The pain was too much and he felt unconsciousness creep in. His shoulder was moved once more, a bit more gently this time, but it was too much. Before he realized what happened, Eugene knew no more. 

Once again, Eugene was waking up after passing out. His head was still throbbing, but his ribs felt a little better and so did his shoulder. Taking inventory, he realized his ribs must have been wrapped while he was unconscious and right arm was sitting in a sling. His shoulder was still sore, but it felt like it was back where it was supposed to be.  
Eugene opened his eyes, realizing he was moving. He was sitting up on Max and small arms were wrapped around his waist, supporting him. He lifted his head and a voice immediately spoke from being him.   
“Eugene you’re awake!” Max stopped immediately, neighing happily, and Rapunzel jumped down from him. Eugene smiled as the horse laid on the ground and Raps helped him down. She helped him navigate to a tree trunk and she gently leaned him back. He cringed as his back protested, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it had earlier. Plus, he’d had worse.   
A gentle hand was on his face once more and he opened his eyes, smiling at the love of his life.   
“Thank you blondie” he said quietly. “I’m just glad you are alright Eugene. You had me worried back there. I should’ve waited on you and made sure you got out! When the roof collapsed, I thought you were gone but Max ran in and was able to drag you out before everything completely came down.” Tears started to fill her eyes and he frowned. “Eugene, you were so pale, I thought you were dead, you had blood all over your face from your head wound. I thought I lost you!” she gently wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back with his uninjured arm. “I’m sorry Raps, I had to make sure you’d get out.”  
After their hug was over she looked at him, seriousness filling her eyes. “Once you’re back on your feet I think we need to have a talk about self-preservation Eugene, do you know what I would’ve done if you would’ve….” She didn’t finish her sentence, but he knew what she was gunna say. If he’d died. He’d thought a lot about dying during his life as a thief, and back then, he hadn’t cared. But now, now he had something to lose, and he didn’t want to cut his time with Rapunzel short. But he knew that it was better for him to die than her. She was more important, and he loved her too much. But that was a conversation for another day. Instead he just smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry” he whispered. She hugged him once more. “it’s okay, you saved me. Thank you.”   
He nodded, happy that they had gotten out of that day alive.   
“I hate to break this up, but we should get a move on, we need to get him back to the infirmary.” Rapunzel nodded at Cass, helping Eugene up once more back onto Max’s back. He had a lot of healing to do once they got back to the castle, but Eugene was glad that this time, he wouldn’t be alone.


	2. Chapter 2: If the safety hadn't been on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season 1 Episode 3. If the safety on the crossbow hadn't been on, Eugene would've been in a bit more trouble.

Chapter 2 -Season 1 Episode 3: If the safety hadn’t been on

Cass threw Shorty out of the water and back onto the dock. Once she herself got back up onto the dock, Eugene let out a sigh of relief. Thank god they were safe up back on land. Back to the task at hand though. He had a criminal to catch!   
Eugene smiled at Cass, then turned to Maximus.  
“It’s just you and me Max.” Max nodded at Eugene and he began climbing off the horse’s back. Grabbing the crossbow, Eugene looked around the deck. The man pretending to be the Giovanni was nowhere to be seen, but he was on the boat somewhere. Max nodded at him as they silently agreed to split up. Eugene waved for Max to dip off to the left. Stealthily, the two of them walked away from one another. Turning the corner, Eugene continued walking slowly, aiming his crossbow around corners, waiting for the Giovanni to come out.   
As he approached the edge of the boat a pain erupted in his stomach as the Giovanni elbowed him and he was thrown backwards onto the deck. The Giovanni laughed, picking up the crossbow that Eugene had dropped. He cursed himself, questioning why he hadn’t had a better grip on the weapon.   
“Arrivederci baby.” The fake Giovanni said in a fake accent. Then in his normal voice he clarified; “it means ‘goodbye’.” Eugene prayed that Max was on his way towards him as the Giovanni smirked down at him. The man’s hand made its way to the trigger and Eugene’s body went into fight or flight mode. He attempted to get out of the way, and while the arrow missed his heart, it didn’t completely miss its mark.   
Eugene heard the click and whooshing of the arrow and felt himself being pushed back to the ground by some sort of force, but his body seemed to go numb. He heard a neigh and a crash. Assuming that Max had gotten the guy, he decided to take a glance down at his body, confused as to why it wasn’t responding to his signals. Sticking straight out of his torso was an arrow. It seemed to have lodged itself a few inches below where his heart laid. He figured the ribs it had hit had probably shattered, but better than his organs being shredded. Eugene’s hand started to slowly make its way down to the arrow, but a hoof stopped it before it got there.   
Max seemed to have moved incredibly fast, or maybe he was moving slow, Eugene wasn’t entirely sure. Max had a sad look on his face and he neighed softly. Eugene smiled at the horse, bringing his hand up to his muzzle instead. Max leaned into his touch and Eugene managed to chuckle softly.   
He wasn’t sure why the pain hadn’t set in, maybe his body just couldn’t process it because of the amount of pain that comes with an arrow to the chest. Max left briefly and Eugene’s eyes wandered to the sky. It wasn’t the first time he was facing death. In fact, it seemed like this had been happening a lot recently, though, living as a thief, he was always dodging death. Just a few weeks ago a house had almost collapsed on top of him and Max had saved him back there too. God, he owes a horse his life.  
Just then, said horse came back into view with an urgent look on his face. Eugene smiled.  
“I’m okay Max.” His voice sounded weak and he figured maybe he wasn’t as okay as he thought. As Max placed a hoof on his shoulder, he realized he was quivering. Oh great, he must be going into shock. That’s always fun.   
He moved his head, looking off the side of the boat. It appeared that they were approaching the dock. That must’ve been where Max had gone, to tell the captain to turn around. Eugene moved his head to look to his other side and saw the fake Giovanni tied up. Max had really done it all.  
Though Eugene continued quaking, it felt like the boat had stopped moving. He knew he was right when Cassandra appeared in his view. Her face was filled with shock and Max was neighing loudly.   
“Shit” Cassandra cursed. “Max go get my dad, or anyone, just get someone, we need to move him!”   
Eugene cracked a smile. “What are you w-worried about me now C-Cass?” he asked with a weak and trembling voice.  
“You dumbass you went and got yourself shot?! Can’t you go a month without getting a major injury?” She peered down at the arrow wound and cringed.  
“It’s -k. Doesn hrt” Eugene slurred, suddenly his tongue wasn’t cooperating.  
“Yeah because you’re in shock Eugene! I swear I can’t take you anywhere…” Cass turned away and seemed to be gesturing to other people and Eugene decided maybe he didn’t want to be moved. He was perfectly happy lying on this deck. A smile reached is face unconsciously but it was interrupted by a light slap to his face. His eyes snapped open and Cass looked at him angerly.  
“Keep those eyes open Fitzherbert. Raps will have my head if you die.” Eugene glared at her but suddenly cringed. When did all these guards appear around him? Eugene was confused. The confusion escalated when they began counting. Why would a bunch of guards be huddled around him counting down from---  
A sudden jolt caused Eugene to yelp. The pain that he’d been numb to suddenly filled his body and he could feel the arrow lodged in between his ribs. He must have been lifted onto a gurney, because suddenly the guards were counting down again.  
As they hoisted him into the air, he gritted his teeth. Every small jostle made his wound flair and Eugene reached to grab the wound once more. This time a hand stopped his. Opening his eyes, he saw Cass again, running along with the guards, now holding his hand with fear in her eyes. Maybe Cass didn’t hate him as much as he thought. Maybe they could be friends? He must be losing a lot of blood because that was a crazy thought. He lifted up his right hand to his face and the sight shocked Eugene.   
The hand was completely covered in blood. HIS blood. When he turned his hand over, his skin looked almost translucent. He was so pale. He could only imagine how bad he looked, probably like a ghost. He hoped his hair looked okay though, can’t go out looking completely trashy.   
He must have drifted for a bit because he was abruptly awoken when the movement stopped. Eugene was lowered onto something soft and the smell of antiseptic filled his nose. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was in the infirmary. Glancing around, he realized he didn’t know anyone around him. He wished Raps was here, but he was glad she wouldn’t see him like this. A hand suddenly grasped his and he turned his head in confusion. It was Cass, she had stayed.   
“Casssssss” Eugene slurred and she smiled at him. He’d never seen her without that look of annoyance in her eyes.   
“Eugene, you’re gunna be okay, here with you alright? You can’t leave Raps behind. What’ll she do without your dumbass around?”   
He weakly squeezed her hand in thanks, maybe this friendship thing could happen with her.   
“Mr. Fitzherbert,” an unknown voice filled his ears “we’re going to have to remove the arrow. Brace yourself.” He opened his eyes, looking at the woman before him. Ah, the doctor, he had become fairly acquainted with her after the last incident. He nodded at her and closed his eyes. Cass squeezed his hand and he squeezed back in thanks. He felt a shift in the arrow as the doctor gripped it and he ground his teeth. Suddenly a pain erupted in his chest. It felt like someone was trying to rip something out of his chest. He yelled in pain and squeezed Cass’s hand as hard as he could. Immediately he felt pressure on the wound as the doctor put a rag atop the rip to stop the flow of blood. However, it seemed like Eugene had already lost too much blood, and the sudden gush wasn’t helping him.   
He opened his eyes and Cass’s face swam in and out of view. The sides of his vision were black, and he recognized himself falling to unconsciousness.   
“Eugene!..” someone yelled his name, probably Cass? He wasn’t sure. The pain in his chest tripled and he groaned. A cold hand landed on his face and his eyes whipped open.   
“Eugene please stay awake. You’ve lost too much blood, if you pass out you might not come back to us.” She said with pain in her voice. He grunted, acknowledging her claim. She was right. He needed to stay awake, for Rapunzel. After what seemed like hours, the doctor spoke once more.  
“It seems as though the bleeding is finally slowing, or you’re running out of blood.” She said with a smirk and Eugene smiled slightly at the joke. “I think I can stitch you up and then we’ll wrap you. It doesn’t feel like your ribs broke thankfully, and it seems as though the arrow didn’t hit any organs. You’re one lucky man Mr. Fitzherbert.”   
“Lcky?” Eugene attempted to say, but his mouth was so dry that his tongue seemed to get stuck to the roof of his mouth.   
Cass reached away and a glass of water seemed to magically appear in her hand. She gently lifted his head and tipped the water into his mouth. He gulped greedily and she had to stop him.   
“You can have more in a bit Eugene, she needs to stitch you.” Eugene nodded sleepily and glanced down at the doctor. She had already prepared the needle and was about to begin. He looked away, deciding it would be better to study the ceiling.   
When the needle pierced his skin the first time Eugene jolted and yelped. He felt a few hands grab his body to attempt to hold him down. He gritted his teeth to hold in a yell as he felt the needle pierce his flesh again.   
Over the next few minutes of agony, Eugene felt his strength quickly leaving his body. Though the pain was present as ever, he didn’t feel like he had the strength to fight against the hands holding him down anymore. He knew this was for the best, he wouldn’t want them to have to redo the stitches. When they finally finished, Eugene sighed.  
“He should be okay. We need to clean him up, apply some salve, and then wrap him. Then we can let him rest.” Eugene cracked opened his eyes and Cass looked relieved. He only now noticed that her hand was still gripping his. He couldn’t believe she’d stayed with him through all that. He must’ve mumbled that because suddenly she replied to his thought.   
“Calm down pretty boy it only took five minutes to stitch you up. Though… I guess it might’ve felt a little longer to you.” She smirked down at Eugene and he smiled back. A cool rag touched his abdomen (wait when did he become shirtless?) and the doctor’s assistant was wiping the blood off of his skin. Lightly dabbing around the wound, soon his skin wasn’t stained with blood anymore. From what Eugene could see, he was as pale as the white sheet he was laying on. Wow, that must have been a lot of blood he lost.   
As the assistant began applying salve, Eugene’s head lolled to the left, glancing around the room. He spotted the arrow that had been in his chest lying on the floor, a puddle of blood surrounding it. He took a deep breath looking at that arrow. If he’d listened to the Captain’s advice and had the safety on, he might’ve gotten out of this without an arrow wound in his chest.   
Soon Cass was propping Eugene up while the assistant was wrapping his chest in gauze. She gently laid him back down after the assistant had left. She helped him drink some more water and settle into the bed. Pulling the sheet up over his chest, Cass looked down at her hands. Eugene looked at her.  
“t-thank you Cass.” He spoke, his voice drained. She turned back to him with a small smile on her face.  
“you’re welcome… I’m glad you’re alive Fitzherbert. No one annoys me quite like you do.” She smirked at the pale man and he returned the look. She looked into his eyes and quirked her head, a laugh reaching her eyes. “You do realize this truce only lasts until I know you’re not gunna die on me right? Then I’ll go back to being annoyed at your constant confidence and stupidity.” Eugene chuckled lightly and nodded.   
“That’s what I was hoping for.”  
Cass leaned down and gave Eugene a light hug and he hugged her back as best as he could. She stood up and nodded at him. “I’ll go get your girl for you. See yah a little later Eugene.” She walked off without letting him reply. Typical. Eugene smiled to himself.   
Rapunzel burst through the door a few minutes later, sprinting through the mostly empty infirmary to the bed in which her boyfriend laid.   
“Eugene!” he groggily opened his eyes. He’d fallen asleep as soon as Cass had left, his body finally giving into the exhaustion. He couldn’t help but smile after seeing those beautiful green eyes.  
“Raps” he started, but she sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could without hurting the wound. When they parted she placed a quick peck on his cheek and looked Eugene up and down. She pulled the sheet back and saw the gauze wrapping his chest. Looking back at Eugene, she placed her hand on his cheek, cupping his face.   
Eugene leaned into her touch and smiled even more just at her being there.   
“love you” Eugene mumbled. “I love you too Eugene” Rapunzel immediately responded. Eugene began to scoot over, making room for his love to lay down with him. She understood his movement and immediately laid down next to him, gently placing her arms atop his bare chest, avoiding the wound.   
“I thought I’d lost you. I saw you when the guards rushed you in here and you were so pale. There was so much blood Eugene. And the arrow…” She trailed off, a haunted look in her eyes.   
“Hey,” Eugene whispered, “m still here.”  
“I know Eugene, I’m so grateful for that.” She kissed his cheek once more and smiled. “Rest now sweetie, I’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll always be there when you wake up.” Eugene’s eyes drooped close and before he knew it, he was asleep. Rapunzel wrapped herself around her injured boyfriend, protecting him from harm as much as she could. He’d get through this, he always did.


	3. Chapter 3- Season 1 Episode 3: If the safety hadn’t been on (Part 2 Recovery)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided that I wanted to have a recovery scene following the last chapter focusing on Rapunzel and Eugene's relationship. I imagine that she wants to do anything she possibly can to help him, and Eugene is reluctant to be in a position where someone has to help him to even stand. Enjoy!

Chapter 3- Season 1 Episode 3: If the safety hadn’t been on (Part 2 Recovery)

It had been three days since the arrow accident, and slowly but surely, Eugene was recovering. His wound thankfully hadn’t gotten infected and the stitches had stayed intact as Rapunzel was making sure he wasn’t moving too much. If it were up to him, he would’ve been up and about. He felt useless wasting away in bed. Thankfully she was able to convince the doctor to move Eugene out of the infirmary. He was currently resting in Rapunzel’s bed. She suggested he stay in her room so she could keep an eye on him. That part he didn’t mind. But he was getting sick of everyone fretting over him.  
“I’m okay blondie” Eugene said as she helped him sit up, propping pillows behind him, “you don’t have to do that.” He looked away, feeling slightly ashamed that he really couldn’t have sat up by himself.  
“hey,” she put one hand on his chest and turned his head to face her with the other, “I don’t mind, okay Eugene? Really, I’m more than happy to help.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned around. Probably fetching him some food or a glass of water. She was always running off to get him something.  
Eugene sighed, closing his eyes. He had a sense of dejavu as he’d just gone through this after that house had collapsed on him a few weeks ago. He had just gotten off bedrest, just came off of being a burden to everyone, and now here he was again. Unable to stand by himself because he was so weak. All because he hadn’t listened to the captain and put the safety on the damn crossbow.  
Suddenly a hand was on his shoulder and his eyes shot open. Rapunzel was looking at him with a light smile on her face. It looked like she might say something for a moment, but instead she closed her mouth and handed him a glass of water.  
“Thanks.” He smiled slightly, though it didn’t reach his eyes, and took a big gulp of water. When he was done, he handed her the glass and she traded him for a plate of food. Eugene frowned, making eye contact with Raps and shaking his head.  
“I’m not hungry Raps, I’m sorry.” He refused to take the plate and looked away. Ever since the first incident, his appetite hadn’t completely returned to him since he’d been out for so long. And that was all without a gaping arrow wound in his abdomen. Though he’d continually been incredibly thirsty, he seemed to have lost his appetite even more. Just thinking about food made him nauseous and he was frightened at the thought of vomiting with his wound.  
“please Eugene, just try.” She once again moved his chin lightly so that he’d have to make eye contact with her. “For me?” He frowned, looking at the plate. It contained a few crackers and some fruit. Even with the small amount it contained, it still looked like too much and his stomach churned. But when he looked back at Raps, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. He knew that he’d lost too much weight in the last few weeks. He already wasn’t that big, mostly just lean muscle since he’d never had access to all that much food. But after those weeks on bed rest and now back in the same spot, he was starting to look unhealthy.  
He knew from the few times he’d glanced in the mirror that he could almost count his ribs and his collarbones stuck out unnaturally. he was still pale, making him look even more sickly, and his new wound stuck out against his ghost like skin. He no longer had the muscled he’d trained so hard to get and he seemed more skeletal than anything. Eugene could feel it too, he felt how weak he’d become.  
In reality, he knew the only way to get past this would be to start eating again, and slowly get his strength back. But he was frightened.  
“I-…” he bowed his head, focusing on his hands in his lap, “I can’t Raps.” He shivered and she pulled the blanket he was sitting under further up over his lap.  
“Eugene, you need to eat. Just one or two crackers. Please Eugene, you’re wasting away. I can’t watch you continue like this. I know you’re scared, and this is hard, but I’m here with you. It’s okay. But you’ll only ever get back to normal if you try.” Eugene met her eyesight once more. He knew she was right. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and nodded. His stomach fluttered with nervousness as Rapunzel handed him a cracker.  
He took a bite. It tasted like ash. He cringed. Eugene felt like he might be sick without even swallowing the food, but he was doing it for blondie. He continued to chew for what felt like forever, and eventually forced it down his throat. He was about to ask for the water, but before he could get the chance she was holding it in front of his face. Eugene gave a smile at her mind reading abilities. He took a swig before righting himself, time for another.  
After about twenty minutes and four crackers, Eugene threw in the towel. He couldn’t keep going. His stomach was churning like crazy and he felt as though he might expel the little food he’d eaten at any minute. He closed his eyes, trying to right his stomach.  
When he reopened his eyes, the half-eaten plate of food was gone and Rapunzel was brushing her hair in the corner. It looked like she was talking to someone -Pascal probably- but she was speaking quietly enough that he couldn’t hear what she was saying.  
He moved to get up, deciding he wanted to wash off. It seemed like his stomach had settled for the most part, but he felt very sweaty and gross. He began to lift himself off the bed, but his weakened state wasn’t helping him much.  
“Eugene!” Suddenly there were hands on him, helping him stand. His arm was placed around her shoulders, and a small arm snaked around his thin waist. “Come on sweetie, you have to let me help you.”  
Eugene nodded and gave a breathy thanks before beginning the walk to the bathroom. It was slow, but eventually they made it. Rapunzel plopped him on the closed toilet lid to sit as she began to draw him a bath. Once again, she’d read his mind. He whipped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and glanced at his shaking hands. Small hands filled his a second later as Rapunzel sat down in front of him. They smiled at one another and she cupped his face. He leaned into her touch unconsciously and she reached to help him take his shirt off.  
He couldn’t move his arm as much as he’d like, and his wound still stung. Soon his shirt was off and Rapunzel couldn’t help but frown at Eugene’s ever shrinking frame.  
“Eugene…” she started, but she didn’t have to say much else. He knew what she was getting at.  
“I know… I-… I know Rapunzel. I look like shit. I’m sorry.”  
“Eugene! Don’t apologize! This isn’t your fault! You’ll get better, I promise you’ll get better.” She once again gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and helped him stand. She helped him undress the rest of the way. They removed his gauze from his abdomen as well, they’d redress it afterwards.  
He felt slightly embarrassed, but it was more because he couldn’t undress himself. She’d seen the goods before, there was nothing on his body she’d be surprised to see other than his quickly dropping BMI. But he still felt awkward standing naked, shaking like a weakling in front of his fully dressed girlfriend.  
Rapunzel helped him step into the tub. The water was perfect of course, not too hot or cold. The bubbles smelled like the forest; she must have put in his favorite bath salts. He still couldn’t help but cringe when his wound touched the water. Rapunzel cringed along with him.  
“I know Eugene, I’m sorry it hurts.” He was fully seated in the tub now, and she was rubbing his back. “Want me to help you wash your hair?”  
“Please.” He knew he sounded pathetic at that moment, but he didn’t care. The warm water was making him tired again. He became even more exhausted as Rapunzel began to wash his hair. This he wouldn’t miss when he got better. There was something so sweet about her washing his hair, how delicately she handled him, it felt so nice. He’d been touch starved for so long that he’d take any loving touch he could get, and he especially wanted it from the love of his life. He knew he was being needy, but at the moment, Eugene didn’t care. He was too relaxed.  
Rapunzel took care to massage the shampoo into his hair, making sure she got every inch of his head. She took her time, noticing how relaxed Eugene got whenever she got him into the tub. It was the most relaxed he ever looked, even when he wasn’t in a position where he had a major injury. Eugene always had his guard up, she supposed it was from a life of running, but even in his sleep his guard wasn’t down. He was always ready to spring to protect himself (or others) from harm. But in this position, she got him to fully let his guard down and unwind.  
After finishing up washing his hair, she noticed he’d dozed off and decided to let him stay there for a while. She stood, drying her hands off with a towel. Rapunzel retrieved a clean, fluffy towel for Eugene and brought it over to the edge of the tub. Rapunzel placed her hand on Eugene’s shoulder and roused him from the nap he’d slipped into.  
He opened his heavy eyelids to see his beautiful girlfriend. Smiling, Eugene felt a million times better just from being clean.  
“Come on sweetie, let’s get you out of there before the water gets cold.” Eugene nodded and Rapunzel helped him navigate getting out of the bathtub. She wrapped the towel around his shoulders and gently helped to dry off his torso. She needed to rewrap his wound before they could redress him.  
After drying his upper half, Rapunzel let him wrap his lower parts and grabbed the fresh gauze and salve from a drawer.  
Eugene situated himself on the toilet seat sitting as straight as he could so that Raps had good access to the wound. Looking down, he saw the gash. Slowly it had been healing, but it was very red still. The stitches were still intact, and though the wound was still red, it appeared that it was mending already. The salve they’d concocted was doing its job quickly.  
Rapunzel came back to Eugene, sitting on her knees in front of him. She dipped her fingers in the salve and began to tenderly apply it to his wound. Eugene cringed lightly when her fingers fully brushed the gash, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had the day before.  
“This is looking better already. I can tell it’s healing quickly. How does it feel?”  
“Better. Much better than yesterday. It doesn’t hurt all that bad anymore. I could probably get back on my feet if I weren’t so weak…” Eugene trailed off, once again feeling that self-pity.  
“Hey… Eugene it’s okay. One thing at a time sweetheart.” He nodded at her as she finished up. Bringing out the gauze, she wrapped the wound as best as she could. Eugene let out a sigh as she finished up and he prepared to get redressed. Rapunzel helped him get his lower half covered but hesitated at the shirt.  
“Maybe we just leave you shirtless so we don’t have to deal with taking it off again.” Eugene nodded. He hated for more people to see him in this weak state, but he had to admit, he didn’t want to lift his arms.  
Rapunzel gathered her boyfriend up once more, helping him walk to the bed. He seemed slightly stronger now, he wasn’t shaking as much and seemed to be carrying a bit more of his weight than he had been before. Not that it was very difficult of Rapunzel to carry him to the bed right now, he didn’t weigh much anymore. She began to walk towards the bed, but Eugene stopped.  
“Balcony? Please?” she looked at him, about to deny his request. But with the small smile and pleading look settled in Eugene’s eyes, she couldn’t say no to that.  
“Oh alright.” Redirecting them, they walked towards the balcony attached to her room. After Eugene’s desperation to get outside during his last experience on bedrest, they’d moved some outdoor furniture upstairs so they could comfortably sit outside.  
Eugene plopped down on the chair on the balcony and breathed the fresh air, thankful that his girlfriend hadn’t stopped him from coming out. She sat down next to him, immediately taking his hand.  
“Thanks Rapunzel. Y-you don’t have to do all this… but I appreciate that you do.” He gave her a half smile and she couldn’t help but smile back.  
“Of course, Eugene, I’ll always be there for you.” She squeezed his hand lightly and went back to looking at the beautiful view of Corona. “Wow, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”  
Eugene glanced back at Rapunzel, taking note of every perfectly placed freckle on her golden skin. The gleam in her emerald eyes and how her hair matched the sunlight. He smiled, a glint in his eye.  
“Yes. I have.” She turned to face him, a smile growing on her face. Smirking she pulled him in for a kiss. Eugene felt his heart flutter. He knew it was going to be another long recovery, but he was thankful he had Rapunzel by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently working on the next chapter. I am very much enjoying rewatching the show in order to find some things to write about, haha. I'll give a hint on the next ep though, S1 E5, Eugene had a little run in with the Stabbington Brothers and got out of it unscathed, but I doubt that's how it would've really gone...  
> Please let me know if you like the recovery portion too though, I really enjoyed writing this chapter, though it was a bit more work as it wasn't based directly off a scene from the show.


	4. Chapter 4- Season 1 Episode 5: If Cass had been left behind

Chapter 4- Season 1 Episode 5: If Cass had been left behind

Though Cass and he had shared a moment when he’d been essentially laying on his death bed, that didn’t mean things changed when he healed. His wound was nothing but a scar at this point and though he hadn’t fully gone back to normal, Eugene was mostly healed, and Cassandra and his relationship was rocky once more.   
He’d always be thankful for the kindness she showed him when he was bleeding out, and he knew that while that part of their relationship was buried somewhere, that was the issue. It was buried. Deep, very deep, under layers of sarcasm.   
And Eugene was fine with that. In fact, he preferred it. It seemed like everyone, especially Raps, was treating him like he was made of porcelain after his two near death experiences. He didn’t want to tell her that this was part of his norm. Being one of the most wanted men in all of Corona and beyond, he was always in danger. He’d always had some sort of wound or broken bone to attend to.   
Before, he hadn’t had anyone to take care of him. He dealt with the injuries himself. They weren’t that big of a deal. And though he had to admit he enjoyed any extra attention from his girlfriend, he had to admit that it was getting old.   
The constant checking up on him, making sure he wasn’t going to topple over or that he was eating enough (he was trying!). She sighed each time she looked at his belt, he had to use a notch four tighter than he usually did. Rapunzel thought she covered all her worry up well, but she didn’t. And it got old. Fast. So, Eugene appreciated that Cassandra wasn’t treating him any different.  
They bickered and argued about little things, but they both knew that they cared about one another, though they did get on each other’s nerves. That’s why, when Rapunzel came up with this whole idea to lock them in a cell and have them put aside their differences, Eugene thought it to be a useless project.   
Instead he chose to sit on the straw bed and eat the cookies his girlfriend had left for him. He had to admit, they were delicious. And he needed to gain some weight back (as Rapunzel reminded him every day), so may as well munch away.   
When Cassandra suggested the cookies might be leading them into a scavenger hunt, Eugene couldn’t help but feel proud of his girlfriend. She’d clearly put a lot of effort into this and he was impressed.   
Though it took a while, they eventually found all the pieces. And, after a bit more bickering, they figured out that they were supposed to build a contraption to get out of the cell. But it all came falling down when they dropped the pieces through a vent in the ground.   
Realizing their position, the two of them realized that the only thing to do was wait. They had no way of getting out of the cell unless Rapunzel gave in and came down to get them.  
Eugene found himself leaning with his back against the bars, waiting for Rapunzel to appear and come get them. When he finally felt the door swing open behind him, he couldn’t help but to smirk. He knew she’d come down eventually.  
“Ah, Blondie! Finally—oh.”  
“Hello Rider.” A gravelly voice said. Stepping into the cell were the Stabbington brothers. Aka; Eugene was dead.   
“That’s… unfortunate.” Eugene frowned, backing away, instinctively stepping in front of Cass. Sideburns took another step towards Eugene, smiling evilly.   
“Friends of yours?” Cassandra asked. Eugene put on his façade and stepped further in front of Cass, hoping they would leave her out of this.   
“Sideburns! Long time no sneer, you look good! The… moisture in the dungeon has done wonders for your leathery skin ahah… uh did you lose weight? Prison food am I right?” Eugene smiled, frightened. A halberd appeared next to Eugene’s neck and he gulped. This was quite the situation he managed to find himself in. “No, no, I guess not.”  
A whistle suddenly blew, alerting the guards that the two brothers had escaped. Eugene felt himself sigh in relief. They were saved!  
The brothers shared a look and turned back to Eugene; he may have been happy too soon. It seemed as though they weren’t shaken by the alarm. Probably a bad sign.   
“Guess we’re gunna need a human shield if we wanna get out of here.”  
“Ahh thank goodness,” Eugene sighed. Then it hit him. “wait a minute.” A punch connected with his jaw before he had a chance to react and he was on the floor. He heard a yelp and Cass fell to the floor as well. That was not okay.  
“Alright you can hit me all you want but leave her alone! She hasn’t done anything!” He started making things up, desperately attempting to save Cass from whatever this could turn into. If she got hurt, it would be his fault. “She’s nothing but, but a lady in waiting. Just leave her here!”  
The two shared another look. They nodded at one another and Patchy began to walk towards Cass. Eugene reached towards her, but Sideburns grabbed him from off the ground and pinned him to the wall with the halberd. He was pinned against the wall, the staff of the halberd against his neck, and he fought against it to keep his grip on oxygen.   
Patchy punched Cass once more and she slumped on the ground.  
“No!” Eugene yelled as much as he could with a partial oxygen supply. It seemed like they might be done with her though, as Patchy turned away from her and faced Eugene. He gave a smile as the large brother approached him. “Truce?” he choked out and the brothers only smirked. Patchy proceeded to punch him directly in the stomach as Sideburns let him drop from where he’d been pinned. He found himself on the ground and a sack was quickly placed over his head.  
As he was trying to catch his breath, he felt himself being swung up and over one of their shoulders. Eugene was too dazed to do anything. He was still in a weakened state and the brothers seemed to notice. He was sure it was obvious now, especially since one of them was carrying him. Usually he’d put up more of a fight, but those punches had affected him more than he anticipated.   
A voice shouted, bringing Eugene out of his thoughts. “Hold it right there! Don’t move!” Oh great. It was the Captain. He’d probably let the brothers beat Eugene up before returning them to their cell just because he hated him so much. His feet were planted on the ground and sack removed from his head in one swift motion. Eugene was sure he looked like shit. He probably already had a shiner forming on his eye from the first punch. And since he’d been looking extra sickly lately, he was sure that would add to his ever so handsome appearance.   
Eugene coughed once and glanced up at the Captain. He was surprised what he saw in the man’s eyes. Concern? He must’ve been mistaken, that didn’t make any sense.   
“Fitzherbert?” Okay now this must be a prank, did the Captain just call him by his real name?  
“Fitzherbert huh. I’d call your men off if you know what’s good for Rider, wouldn’t want to hurt the Princesses’ precious boy toy, would we?” The Captain kept his crossbow raised for a moment, but then proceeded to lower it. He instructed the other guards to do so as well and Eugene couldn’t help but feel surprised. It must just be because he didn’t want to make Rapunzel unhappy.  
Speaking of Rapunzel, she just had to run in right at that moment didn’t she. The last thing he wanted was for her to get wrapped up in all of this.   
“-sounds like my plan worked! Eugene! How did this happen?” She looked like she was about to charge at the brothers, but the one holding Eugene (oh it was Sideburns) brought his halbert to his neck.  
“Stay back princess!” The Captain ordered. He stepped in front of her, blocking her from Eugene’s view. He sighed in relief, hopefully the brothers would just take him and run off then. Rapunzel was safe.   
“it’s okay blondie, I’m working on a plan” he stated with a lack of confidence. The minute they rounded the corner he found himself getting punched in the stomach once more, thrown over Sideburn’s shoulder again. He coughed, attempting to catch his breath. The brothers began to run once more. Through the sewer grate.   
Eugene could hear the guards gaining on them, but Patchy seemed to notice as well. He dropped behind Sideburns and Eugene, and hit a part of the wall just right, allowing the tunnel to collapse in on itself. There was no way the guards could catch up to them now from that side.   
Apparently, the brothers decided they were safe enough to exact some revenge now, and they threw Eugene up against the wall. He slid down it, dizzy from the sudden impact, and ended up sitting on the ground staring up at the large brothers. Sideburns grabbed the neck of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. Eugene yelped.  
“We got a little score to settle.” Sideburns growled. “What do you think,” he turned to his brother, “snuff him out now? Or should we have a little fun with him first?” Patchy smirked and nodded. Ah shit, this wasn’t gunna be fun.   
Sideburns dropped him on the ground but before Eugene could attempt to move away Patchy punched him in the face. He lost balance and fell to the ground on his side. He felt something sticky running down his face and figured that one must’ve broken skin. A boot found its way to his stomach and Eugene felt himself lose his breath once more.  
The brothers went all out. Kicking and punching as much of Eugene’s body as they could. The worst was the onslaught of kicking in the ribs. Those boots seemed to have a steel toe and he felt as though his ribs were shattered. His arms had come up in an attempt to shield his head and he had curled into a fetal position to try and defend his ribs as well. After what seemed like hours, the beating began to slow.   
Eugene was lifted up by the neck of his shirt once again. His head lolled as they lifted him into the air. His head seemed very heavy all the sudden. So did his eyelids. He was shoved up against the wall and he tried opening his eyes. One of them refused to obey all together, but he had blurry vision in the other. Sideburns was smiling maliciously at him and Patchy was lifting the halbert up.   
This was it. They were gunna cut him in half. Or cut his head off. He wasn’t sure but he was praying that it would be a quick death. Eugene thanked whatever eternal being was out there that Cass and Raps had been spared, and that he was the one taking this fate. He saw Patchy swing the halbert backwards in preparation and he closed his eye. He didn’t need to watch his life end. But just then there was a clang.  
Eugene was dropped and he crumpled on the floor, too weak to catch himself. He heard a voice that made his adrenaline start to pump though. It was Rapunzel. His eye opened and he saw Rapunzel and Cassandra fighting the brothers and tying them up using Raps’s hair. The guards appeared as well, crossbows pointed at the brothers, and they raised their hands in surrender.   
The Captain stepped forwards to cuff the brothers and unwrap them from the golden hair, and Rapunzel made her way to where Eugene still laid on the floor.   
“Eugene! Damnit Eugene we just got you healed.” Rapunzel had tears in her eyes as she cupped Eugene’s face. He smiled and coughed lightly.  
“To be fair this one feels less like my fault than the others.” Rapunzel frowned.  
“You know what I mean sweetie.” Eugene nodded and closed his eye. Rapunzel maneuvered herself around Eugene and helped him sit up straight, leaning against her and the wall for support. He supposed that they looked silly sitting like that. He was much taller than her, just he was slumped down so she could rest her chin on the top of his head. Eugene was too comfortable to care though.   
“I think I just have bruises if that makes you feel better,” Eugene joked, “besides the cut on my face I mean. My ribs don’t feel great, but I am fairly certain they’re not cracked so, that’s good right?” He smiled at Rapunzel and she smiled back.   
“Well you don’t look great… but I suppose it’s good to know that these injuries are minor rather than one major injury.” He nodded and leaned his head against her collarbone.   
They stayed there like that for a while. Rapunzel holding Eugene in her arms while the guards dealt with the brothers. Cass was talking to her dad about something, and they were waiting for the doctor to come and check Eugene out. They needed to make sure nothing was broken, and he wasn’t concussed before standing him up and moving him. Plus, he seemed pretty comfy where he was.   
Rapunzel held Eugene in her arms and couldn’t help but notice how small he felt. His arms were much smaller, and she could easily wrap her arms all the way around his waist. He didn’t feel as heavy leaning against her as he had when he’d been stabbed by Gothel. She shivered; she didn’t want to remember that. They weren’t there anymore, and Eugene wasn’t dying this time.   
The doctor arrived and they roused Eugene. She did all of the checks she could and confirmed what Eugene had previously told Rapunzel. He was pretty banged up, but he didn’t have any broken bones or a concussion. She put a bandage and some salve over the cut under his eyebrow, but other than that, he was free to go.   
Rapunzel helped him stand up and he quickly tried to shake her off. She insisted on helping though, stating that he might as well accept her help or else she’d make someone carry him. They walked back to her room together. Eugene had just been staying in her room ever since the last accident, they didn’t want to sleep apart anymore.   
She started a bath for him as soon as they got back, hoping that it would help soothe the soreness of the bruising before it got too bad. Undressing him, they saw the extent of the damage the brothers had caused. His abdomen was riddled with dark purple bruises. His shins had gotten quite beaten and so had his forearms as they’d attempted to shield his abdomen when he’d curled up.  
Eugene noted that his face was a mess. His right eye was completely swollen shut (no wonder he couldn’t open it) and that eye was completely purple and red. The cut under his right eyebrow was red, but no longer bleeding, however, he did have dried blood on the side of his face. He also had a split lip, which he didn’t realize until now. There were also bruises forming on his neck from where the handle of the halbert had been pushed up against his throat.   
Essentially, he looked like a mess.  
Rapunzel helped him get washed up. He held an icepack to his eye while he sat in the tub. The hot water did help soothe the aches and when Eugene exited the tub, he already felt slightly better. When he came out in his fuzzy pajamas, Rapunzel was waiting for him. He curled up in bed next to her and she immediately assumed the position of the big spoon. She wrapped her arms loosely around him and he leaned into her touch. The two of them were exhausted, passing out almost immediately from the eventful day.   
The next morning, Eugene awoke very sore and achy, but his eye swelling was already coming down and he could see out of it. The doctor told him the bruising should fade within a week or so and he should return to normal much quicker than he had recently.   
He let out a sigh of relief. It was already much better than previously. He could already move about by himself and he hadn’t lost his appetite. But no matter what, he was glad he still had Raps by his side.  
A few days later, he saw Cass, and she thanked him for how he made them leave her alone. He apologized that she got hit, she still had quite the bruise on her face as well, but she just smirked.   
The Captain also sought him out, thanking him for what he’d done for Cassandra. He admitted that he was relieved to see Eugene back on his feet so quickly, then turned to leave before Eugene could make a snarky remark back to him.   
All in all, it could’ve gone worse. And Eugene was grateful it hadn’t.


End file.
